Cell Phones and Total Lack of Consideration

Something I've noticed in the last few years, pretty much since cell phones were in regular use by the masses, is the abrupt death of courtesy and consideration.  Now, I know pretty much everyone has a cell phone, and this could very well be a sensitive topic for some.  I don't care.  I'm saying what I want to say about it, because it needs to be said.  It needs to be said as many times as it takes for people to actually listen and understand that what they're doing is wrong, stupid, discourteous and oftentimes downright dangerous.

The best way to illustrate this is through examples.  These are real, live examples of what people do on their cell phone, and the direct consequences of this use.

Example Number One

Person in left-hand turn lane waiting for advance turning signal so he can go.  He's at the head of a line of cars.  He decides to kill time and starts sending out text messages, which is illegal in the province of Ontario.  You're not allowed to use a cell phone in your car, except the phone portion with a hands-free kit.  You can't dial, you can't text, and you can't hold the phone up to the side of your head.  The fine is up to $500, unless you're using something while driving that puts others at risk, and then the fine can be as high as $1000.  It's doesn't matter if you're in a traffic jam, or stopped at a red light.  This applies to all communication devices, including iPods, Blackberries, GPS units, etc.

In this case the driver did not cause an accident, although he easily could have.  No, he was simply so distracted by what he was doing that he didn't notice the light had turned green until the last possible second, at which time he zoomed through a yellow turning light, leaving all the cars behind him stuck at the light for another cycle.  Rude, annoying, and definitely the cause of some serious road rage in myself.  It wouldn't surprise me if one of the other drivers was so angered by this that they were driving unsafely themselves for the rest of their trip.  This, of course, is an unmeasurable consequence, since there's no way to know if any of the other drivers ended up in an accident on their way home.

Example Number Two

Train wreck in California a few years ago, caused by the conductor texting on his cell phone.  He derailed the train.  I'm sorry, but if you can derail a train due to cell phone usage, don't you think maybe it's a little dangerous to be doing this kind of thing in a freaking car?!  Cars are not on rails.  Cars wander all over the road when their drivers are not paying attention.

Example Number Three

Person talking on cell phone while in line at a fast food joint.  She got up to the counter, finished her call, and had no idea what she wanted.  Meanwhile, the people behind her are waiting for her to decide.  Something she could have done instead of yapping.  Now she's taking up everyone else's time, because she's an inconsiderate idiot.  I mean, unless you have vision problems and can't read the menu from farther back in the line, there's no excuse for not knowing what you want by the time you get to the cash register, beyond the obvious ones of stupidity and lack of consideration for others.

Example Number Four

Mythbusters, the television show, did their own test regarding driver competency while talking on a cell phone.  The experiment was a comparison between alcohol consumption and cell phone usage, and which one was more detrimental to a person's driving abilities.  Guess which one was worse?  The cell phone, of course.  People who are drunk usually pay attention.  Yes, their reaction times are slowed, and if they're really drunk they can pass out behind the wheel.  Their vision is impaired so they may not drive in a straight line, and their perception of speed and distance are skewed dangerously.  Compared to a cell phone user, though, drunk drivers are safer.  People on cell phones are far too confident of their driving ability and make no allowance whatsoever for their level of distraction.  It's not just the conversation they're having, either.  There is a physical limitation imposed by having a cell phone against the side of your head.  It and your hand are blocking your peripheral vision, and you also don't turn your head the way you should when you're holding a cell phone.  The conversation can trigger other distraction, such as searching for a pencil and paper to jot something down, or looking for something like a phone number to give to the person you're speaking to.  The distractions are endless.

I'm sure you've all got your pet peeves with cell phone, such as going out for a romantic evening when someone at the next table, who hasn't turned their phone to the vibrate setting, gets a call with some really stupid ringtone.  They proceed to take the call, talking louder than they normally would, which is something we all do on the phone - especially on cell phones where there is still a fair bit of interference.  Or, how about the people who do not turn off their phone when they go to a movie.  One of my pet peeves has always been to have a movie interrupted, even when I'm at home watching on a DVD, so a cell phone in a theatre where I'm paying a fair bit of money to watch the movie will make me go ballistic.  I mean, it's not like they're going to pause the movie for every jerk whose phone goes off, so you're stuck with the rudeness.

The worst, however, aside from the dangerous ones on the road, are the ones who can't seem to read a simple sign in a medical facility.  Not only are the cell phones disruptive to people who are likely sick and need their rest, but they can be downright hazardous.  The RF signals interfere with medical equipment.  Do you really want to be responsible for someone's ventilator not working?  I mean, seriously, your phone call is NOT worth a person's life - I don't care how important you think that next deal is to your career.  Take it outside.

What about airplanes?  It has been against the law for as long as I can remember for people to have a wireless communication device working on an airplane.  You want to guess why?  Radio frequency signals, or RF signals, are the reason again, the same as they are with hospital equipment.  They interfere with electronic equipment on the airplane.  If you're committing this crime, I have to say you're pretty stupid.  You're riding on the very airplane that could be brought down because of your cell phone use, and you seriously want to risk that?  You're not even allowed to use a wireless mouse.  Believe me, I asked.  I have a laptop, as I've stated many times in this blog, and I'm pretty much addicted to it.  However, I also have a wireless laser mouse.  I hate touchpads, particularly the one on my laptop, so my mouse goes where my laptop goes.  I ended up flying all the way from Hamilton to Edmonton without taking out my laptop, just because I couldn't use my mouse.  It's a good thing I love to read.

Yes, I know people were probably jerks before cell phones became so common.  The thing is, they just didn't have the ability to be quite so inconsiderate or dangerous as they have become, now that cell phones have afforded them these fresh opportunities.  Like everyone else, I have a cell phone.  It's a Blackberry, so I not only use it for making calls, but also for e-mail (when I have data connected on it), texting, working on articles, making notes for myself, reading ebooks, and even sometimes playing sudoku.  It's a handy little device.  I just know enough to turn the thing off when it's necessary and/or polite to do so.

We do not have to be connected every second of the day.  We can record a voicemail for incoming calls to state that we are unavailable at this time as we are going to be in an area that prohibits cell phone use.  We can have a return e-mail response that issues automatically from our servers to state that we will return e-mails at a specific time when we are in a place that allows cell phone use.  There are many alternatives for people who are not supposed to be on their phones.  It's simply a matter of giving a damn about anyone other than ourselves and taking the time to be considerate of those around us.  The less anger we spread through inconsiderate behaviour, the happier we'll all be.